ARTICLE 1
The name 'bunyip' was used by Aboriginal people of Victoria. Bunyips were said to be monsters that lived in rivers, lakes and billabongs. They made loud booming noises in the night and were said to eat people, especially children and women.

Some European explorers also reported bunyips. One of these was Hamilton Hume who, in 1821,  wrote about a monster that lived in Lake Bathurst in New South Wales. Hume was challenged to capture a bunyip, dead or alive.

This photo shows a hippopotamus. Hamilton Hume  said that the animal in Lake Bathust was like a hippopotamus.

ARTICLE 2
About 20 000 years ago, the last of the diprotodons died. What was a diprotodon?

A diprotodon was an enormous marsupial, up to 2.5 metres tall. It looked like a giant wombat. Once, there were many diprotodons and other large animals in Australia. Slowly, they died out. Perhaps this was because the climate in Australia  changed. Perhaps it was because of hunting by Aboriginal people or perhaps it was the arrival of the dingo in Australia that killed off diprotodons.

The bones of many diprotodons have been found near ancient lakes, so we know that they lived near  water. Recently, a diprotodon skull was found. There was hole in the back of the skull, so it appears that Aboriginal people once hunted and killed diprotodons.

We know that Aboriginal people passed on stories to their children for many generations. Could the stories of bunyips be based on diprotodons?

ARTICLE 3
Aboriginal people in many parts of Australia had stories about monsters that lived in the water. In the Kimberley area of Western Australia, it was called a Woongid. In Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, it was called Ngalyod. In south-west Australia, it was called the Wagyl. In some places, the creature took the form of a rainbow serpent.

In the Coorong area of South Australia, the bunyip was an enormous animal that killed and ate people. It made loud, bellowing noises at night. Its huge fur-covered body had a long neck. It reproduced by laying huge eggs near the water.